Ag Research Can Help the Economy and Inform Policy

This comes to us from Cody Sullivan, U.S. Forest Service Research and Development.

When most people think of forests, science isn’t the first thing that comes to mind, but, perhaps, it should. That’s because the U.S. Forest Service Research and Development program oversees projects across many science disciplines including forestry, genetics, wildlife, forest products and wildfire.

The agency has been using this science to deliver returns on investments for stakeholders, industry partners, and the public. For instance:

• Forest Service research supported the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s decision to not list the Greater sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act, listing the species would have necessitated restrictions on economic activity across 163 million acres.

• Because monitoring and managing rare species can be expensive, Forest Service researchers developed new environmental DNA (eDNA) technologies that make it easier and less expensive to monitor rare fish species. Additionally, Forest Inventory and Analysis research estimates the value of carbon sequestered in U.S. forestlands from 2016-2045 at $450 billion.

Wood pellets which can be used as biofuel are one example of the many technologies and products the Forest Service produces or supports that provide sizable financial benefits to stakeholders and industry. (Photo credit: USDA)

• Research also helps protect valuable wood resources. Scientists developed technologies and techniques to identify illegally trafficked wood and researchers provide guidance and efficacy data for wood-destroying termites and fungi to the public. The research informs regulations, codes and standards, and supports the pest control industry which contributes about $14 billion to the U.S. economy and employs approximately 107,000 people.

• Another part of the U.S. industry Forest Service R&D supports is wood pellets – biofuels made from compressed organic material and used for heating. R&D refined tools that allow for identification of areas for development of biomass use. This tool resulted in sizeable private sector investments and created more than 300 forest sector jobs. U.S. pellet exports to the EU exceeded $358 million in 2013.

About the author

Kathy worked with the Bureau of Land Management for 12 years before founding Livestock for Landscapes in 2004. Her twelve years at the agency allowed her to pursue her goal of helping communities find ways to live profitably AND sustainably in their environment. She has been researching and working with livestock as a land management tool for over a decade. When she's not helping farmers, ranchers and land managers on-site, she writes articles, and books, and edits videos to help others turn their livestock into landscape managers.